Highlights: If provoked, we'll retaliate, says Army Chief Bikram Singh

• It's a very challenging task for the media to report on these events, media has done a great job
• I want to convey condolences to the families
• 91 officers that have died last year. I salute them, as they have made a great sacrifice
• My heart goes to families of soldiers who were killed and body was mutilated. It's a gruesome and unpardonable act
• We have launched a protest through the government and the Director General of Military Operations (DGMOs)
  
• What they have done is against the ethics of soldiering
• DGMOs have conveyed that in the talk
• We are holding a commanders' flag meeting today at 1 pm and this will be conveyed again
• No operation conducted by Indian Army on January 6 as alleged by Pakistan
• Commanders on LoC doing a great job, do not expect them to be timid, they need to be offensive
• As far as a stance is concerned, beheading of soldiers not acceptable
• Strategic nuances have been conveyed to Pakistan
• At a military level, it is being dealt with at a technical level
  
• We will uphold the ceasefire as long as it is maintained
• We reserve the right to retaliate at the time and place of our choosing
• I expect my commanders on the LoC to be aggressive; they must understand that the Army hierarchy is behind them
• Talks to get Lance Naik Hemraj's head back are on at government level
• We are with her and we understand (on Lance Naik Hemraj's wife). I am the head of the clan and I am like a father
• We will make sure they are given all possible help
• We will give them (to the family) all that is due and everything they are entitled to
  
• Need to maintain and retain moral ascendancy at all costs
• We have given a response in a professional manner and that is measured
• We will not be crossing the LoC, we respect the sanctity of the LoC
  
• We will retaliate if provoked and fired upon, and let me tell you we have fired back
• Need to keep morale of the officers high at the LoC and to be active alert and carry out operations 
• The options are available at the military domain at the tactical level
• As far as military options are concerned, we have adequate resources and adequate experience, we have professional commanders
• With regard to operation per se, these are localised and can be dealt with at the tactical level
• The decapitation of our soldier has hurt us and we will respond and protest strongly
• Pakistan uses terrorists for operations. We cannot rule out the possibility.
• Home Minister made a statement, that must have been based on intelligence inputs available... we have known them to use that
• Decision to go to war is an extension of state policy
• This is an operation at the tactical level, this will be dealt at the operational level
• If things flare up, then the other options come in
• Red lines are boundaries of tolerance - we are angered, we are hurt
• But there are other elements to national power - diplomatic, economic - to deal with it
• At an opportune moment I will go down and pep the troops
• I have spoken to the Army Commander, he has been there and the morale is sky high
• What impact it has on the composite dialogue will be seen at the level of government
• I am sure government will convey our concerns - beheading of a soldier unpardonable
• This type of operation needs planning of at least 15 days
• In these ops, no one would like to leave tell-tale signs behind
• The way it was launched indicative of pre-meditated, pre-planned action
• Nuclear sabre rattling does not come into this
• This is a tactical level operation
• We are conveying our anger through political, diplomatic and military channels
  
  

On Siachen

• It is strategically important to us, it's our area and we need to continue to hold it
• Demilitarising only on backdrop of the trust deficit that needs to be addressed prior to that
• We got to be cautious, pragmatic and deliberate
• We have shed a lot of blood in gaining strategic advantage here, let's value that sacrifice

On Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA)

• There are two categories of AFSPA - 1958 (which is applicable in the North East) and 1990 (which is applicable to Jammu and Kashmir)
• AFSPA give us additional powers to operate in volatile areas where you can't differentiate between a friend and foe
• We need to give soldiers that power to act in that situations
• We should not dilute powers of the act, it is an enabler
• Any decision to revoke it should be taken after inputs from all the security agencies and stakeholders
  

On Capt Saurabh Kalia, Lans Naik Hemraj

• It is the government's decision to raise the issue; our sympathies are with Capt Kalia's father
• In a civilised environment, there are ethics of soldiering that we need to engage in
• We need to respect soldiers; it should be raised at the highest level for Pak's army's accountability

On defences with China

• We have very focussed initiatives along the northern border with regard to infrastructure and upgrading our defences

On previous instances of beheading of soldier

• The situation is dynamic along the LoC - localised operations in the area of Uri-Rampur and in the area of Poonch-KG-BG
• Beheading of soldiers from 20 Kumaon in 2012; Rajput Regiment in 2011 was shared with the Ministry of Defence; no effort to conceal them... we will share the specifics with you (the media)
• There is no fissures or distrust in the Army
• We are a homogenous force; One for all and all for one
• Don't want to talk about predecessors but where we have faltered, we have apologised
• There are no divides and I am speaking with conviction
• We are your army, we will be as strong as you want us to be